Articles by Son Ji-hyoung
Son Ji-hyoung
consnow@heraldcorp.com-
[Market Close-up] Pandemic polarizes risk appetite in real estate investment
Representatives of South Korean institutional investors said Tuesday they were increasingly tapping into distressed asset classes in their capital deployment to real estate assets, as the novel coronavirus disruption in the market is upping the appetite for the two extremes: very safe and very risky. The so-called “barbell strategy” is playing out to fight the downside impact of COVID-19, amid heightening pressure to deploy capital, institutional investors said during PERE Investor
Market Sept. 17, 2020
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Toss users spend 65% of cash relief within month: data
Users of Toss, a local financial services app operated by Viva Republica, spent 65 percent of their disaster relief funds in less than a month, the company said Thursday, referring to its data analysis. According to the estimate, 65 percent of the total 395.2 billion won ($336.5 million) in spending by 778,000 recipients was spent before end-May, after the Korean government started to dole out some 14 trillion won to every Korean household that month. Viva Republica compiled the data from use
Economy Sept. 17, 2020
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Korean investors close in on US student housing acquisition
South Korean investors are inching closer to taking over a student housing facility in the United States from US real estate developer Lincoln Ventures for roughly 140 billion won ($119.37 million), local brokerage arm Korea Investment & Securities said Wednesday. The 18-story building, Moontower, has four underground levels and houses 166 units with 567 beds. The high-end student residential facility will serve the University of Texas at Austin starting in the fall 2020 semester. Its 19,0
Market Sept. 16, 2020
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Carousell snaps up $80m from Naver-led investors
Singapore-based online marketplace platform Carousell said Wednesday it had raised a combined $80 million funding from an investor group led by South Korean internet giant Naver. Along with Naver, other Korean investors, including Mirae Asset-Naver Growth Fund and NH Investment & Securities, took part in the consortium. Credit Suisse advised the deal. The funding enabled Carousell to exceed a $900 million valuation, according to the startup. Since launching in 2012, Carousell has been
Market Sept. 16, 2020
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PAG exits from only Korean portfolio company at discount
Hong Kong-based private equity investor PAG Asia Capital exited from Korean toy maker Young Toys by selling its entire stake for some 150 billion won ($127 million) to an investor consortium led by local book publisher MiraeN. The transaction was closed earlier last week, according to deal adviser BDA Partners, after the proposed buyer and seller inked a sales and purchase agreement for 100 percent stake in Young Toys in August. MiraeN declined to comment on deal terms. “We’re pro
Market Sept. 15, 2020
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Analysts cast doubt on Shinhan‘s motive behind PE-backed capital increase
Shinhan Financial Group’s plan to increase capital, list new common shares and invite foreign private equity firms as new shareholders in October has left local market watchers with doubts about the motivation behind the move. Last week, the nation‘s No. 1 banking group by total assets said the fundraising is aimed at a securing long-term capital buffer amid COVID-19 uncertainties and a new growth driver in its global business. Questions still linger, according to analysts here, a
Market Sept. 13, 2020
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PEI to hold PERE Seoul event virtually
Financial intelligence firm PEI said Sunday it plans to host its PERE Investor Forum: Seoul Virtual Experience 2020 on Tuesday. The virtual event is designed to connect South Korean investors with global fund managers and investment advisers to get a glimpse of the future capital flows in the real estate investment scene in and out of Korea through virtual sessions. Sharing the persepctives of Korean institutional investors will be representatives of the Public Officials Benefit Association,
Market Sept. 13, 2020
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Cushman & Wakefield wins real estate adviser award
Global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield won the top commercial real estate adviser and consultant spot by Euromoney’s 2020 Real Estate Survey for the third consecutive year, the company said Sunday. Euromoney Real Estate Survey’s country result also showed that Cushman & Wakefield’s Korean unit won the award here, along with other 15 countries including the United States, Japan and China. “The success of winning the Euromoney Real Estate Awards in
Market Sept. 13, 2020
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Rebound unlikely in sectors reeling from COVID-19
Domestic industrial sectors that are reeling from the coronavirus fallout in South Korea are unlikely to see a drastic rebound and probably face longer-lasting financial strain, officials of credit rating agency the Korea Investors Service said Thursday. Korean businesses dedicated to auto parts manufacturing, oil refining, hotels, duty-free shops, theaters and aviation are seeing a negative credit outlook and facing heightened financial pressure, making them subject to credit downgrading in t
Market Sept. 10, 2020
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No. of reported offshore account holders jumps 24%
The number of foreign account holders that reported to the National Tax Service surged 24 percent on-year to 2,685 worth nearly 60 trillion won, data showed Thursday. In June, 1,889 residents of Korea reported accounts to NTS, each holding a balance of 4.2 billion won on average, while 796 Seoul-based corporations documented accounts, with an average balance of 65.2 billion won. Their total account balance came to 59.9 trillion won ($50.5 billion), down 2.6 percent from the previous year. The n
Market Sept. 10, 2020
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COVID-19 changing how Korean LPs think about infrastructure bet
Even before the pandemic, South Korean institutional investors pursued safe bets in infrastructure investment, given their tendency to work with top-tier external partners to manage their money and to join the final round of fundraising for those external partners. They became more conservative in the wake of COVID-19, representatives of Korean institutional investors said Tuesday at Infrastructure Investor Seoul Summit Virtual Experience 2020, hosted by the London-based financial intelligence
Market Sept. 9, 2020
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Korean asset managers take heat from H2O fund freeze
Korean asset management houses are facing a ripple effect from London-based investor H2O Asset Management‘s decision to halt fund withdrawals for four weeks and to draw up measures to seek redress from the fund freeze, according to an announcement Tuesday. VI Asset Management and Kiwoom Asset Management, both based in Seoul, have their combined investment of 460 billion won ($387 million) suspended from the redemptions, as the asset managers had bought mutual funds managed by H2O through
Market Sept. 8, 2020
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[Herald Interview] TBT aims to link innovation-seeking conglomerates with startups
The coronavirus pandemic is pressing Korean conglomerates to seek innovation for growth. At the same time, a recent change in the nation’s law, allowing a chaebol with a holding company structure to own a venture capital house, is expected to add vigor to the startup ecosystem here. Before the revision, corporations turned to venture capital houses to indirectly invest in startups. The revision, however, still highlights the existing role for local venture capital houses -- to intervene
Market Sept. 7, 2020
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Hypermarkets sell, shut stores amid COVID-19 fallout
South Korea‘s hypermarket chain operators are working quickly to sell their discount stores to improve their balance sheet, as fallout from the coronavirus deepens and the domestic retail industry’s makes a shift to online. As of Friday, Homeplus has agreed to sell three discount stores to undisclosed real estate developers since July, with the proceeds of the sales also under wraps. One is located in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province and the other two are in Daejeon. At least one more dis
Market Sept. 4, 2020
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Sign of an exit? Hahn & Co. moves to reduce Ssangyong Cement capital
Ssangyong Cement Industry has proposed reducing its equity capital to pursue higher dividend and enhance shareholder value. Market watchers say the move makes the case for a possible exit of South Korea‘s second-largest private equity house Hahn & Co. from the nation’s No. 1 cement maker by market share. Ssangyong Cement on Tuesday proposed to reduce equity capital to one-tenth to 50.4 billion won ($42.4 million) by November. As a result, the remainder, 455 billion won, will t
Market Sept. 4, 2020
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